Trump Criticizes The Mayor Of London After Terror Attack

Sabrina Rojas WeissJun 4, 2017 12:30 PM

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

Hours after the attack on London Bridge, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to offer his support to the United Kingdom and weigh in on the London attack. While encouraging increased security, Trump criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'" Trump tweeted.

The problem with Trump's critique is that Khan's quote has been taken out of context. While those are words that the London mayor said in an interview with the BBC on Sunday, he was not saying people shouldn't be alarmed about the attack on his city. Rather, he was speaking of the increased police presence in the city following the attack.

"There can be no justification for the acts of these terrorists. And I'm quite clear that we will never let them win, nor will we allow them to cower our city or Londoners," Khan said. "Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. No reason to be alarmed. One of the things the police and all of us need to do is make sure we're as safe as we possibly can be. I am reassured that we are one of the safest global cities in the world, if not the safest global city in the world, but we always evolve and review ways to make sure we remain as safe as we can."

Conservatives in the U.K. did not echo Trump's criticism. Politician Penny Mourdant tweeted a screenshot of Khan's full quote and wrote, "Here's what @SadiqKhan actually said. He is right to provide reassurance. I'm standing with resilient London & him."

According to the New York Times, Khan's spokesperson said in a statement, "He has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks urging Londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police — including armed officers — on the streets."

Another politician is using the attack as a means to argue for stricter immigration laws in her country. Pauline Hanson, the leader of Australia's One Nation Party, tweeted a graphic that quoted the London Police alert to "Run, Hide, Tell," and wrote, "Stop Islamic immigration before it is too late."

In March, when a terrorist ran his car into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a similar attack on Khan. "You have to be kidding me?! Terror attacks are part of living in big city, says London Mayor Sadiq Khan," Trump Jr. wrote, again taking out of context the mayor's statement about security.

"Part and parcel of living in a great global city is you’ve got to be prepared for these things, you’ve got to be vigilant, you’ve got to support the police doing an incredibly hard job," Khan told the Evening Standard.